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Women aged between 25 and 49 are now spending more time on the internet than men as they become hooked on keeping in touch with friends online, according to figures published today by the communications regulator Ofcom.

Signalling the apparent "feminisation" of the web, young adult women spent more time online than men in 2006. Nearly 2.2 million women between 25 and 34 accounted for 55 per cent of the time spent online by that age group, according to the watchdog's major annual audit of the nation's media habits, the Communications Market Report.

Internet usage shows marked gender divides. Sharon Bailey, general manager for MSN, Microsoft's online business, in the UK, said: "If learning how to use the technology was ever a barrier to women getting online, it isn't today and, frankly, there are more interesting things for women to do on the web than in the past – especially when it comes to socialising."

Unknown two years ago, social networking sites – a combination of communication, information and gossip – have become particularly popular with women. Such sites are visted by more than six million Britons a month, and are still growing rapidly, according to Ofcom.

The figures show that one in four people with an internet connection at home now uses a social networking site – rising to nearly a third among 15 to 24-year-olds.

Facebook and Bebo, as well as MySpace, which is owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times and Times Online, all have more young female users. Nearly a third of all Facebook users are women aged 18 to 34; only a quarter are men in the same range.

Adam Baum, media analyst with Gartner Group, said: “I have no doubt that the reason behind the swing [towards women] is the rise of social networking sites. The time people spend on sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook is by some magnitude higher than on ‘traditional’ websites and these new sites, which allow people to talk to each other, engage in friendships and share tastes, appeal to women.”

These comments are backed up by other industry data. Figures from Nielsen/Netratings, the web analyst, show that MySpace, Bebo and Facebook all have more female users in the 18-34 age bracket than male ones. Facebook, the site with the biggest concentration of 18 to 34-year-olds, has nearly a third more female than male users in that age group.

Nielsen's data also suggests women spend more time on social network sites once they are there, and view more pages.

The internet was previously regarded as a male preserve, Ofcom said, but this shift towards female users is likely to prompt more online content angled exclusively at women, according to industry players.

Mr Baum added: "The knock-on effect will be on traditional media. Companies that spent money on advertising on daytime television, for instance, may find that the female audience they have taken for granted for years isn't there in the future."

Boys, however, go online more than girls and older men are still more prolific users of the internet than older women. Of those aged over 65, men account for 79 per cent of time online.

The report shows that "silver surfers", aged over 50, a group with plenty of leisure time and disposable income, account for nearly a third of the time spent on the internet in the UK.

The average over-65-year-old internet user spends 42 hours a month on the web – far longer than any other age group. A quarter of all internet users are now more than 50 years old.

The report highlights the rise of a new tech-savvy generation, with more than 75 per cent of 11-year-olds claiming to own their own television, games console and mobile phone.

It also notes the emergence of "media stacking" – or using more than one type of media at a time. More than half of children aged from five to 15 say they have used their phone, played a game, surfed the web, played music or listened to the radio while watching TV.

Ofcom's figures show that Britons' spending on media and communications broke through the £50 billion barrier last year as the amount of time the average person spends watching TV, listening to the radio, using the internet and talking on the mobile phone passed 50 hours a week.

However, the amount spent per person on media fell, to £92.65 last year, down from £94.03 in 2005, mainly because of increased competition in fixed and mobile telecoms.

Across the population, TV still accounts for about half our weekly media consumption – or about 25.2 hours. Radio comes next, with 19.8 hours.

The average person spends 4.2 hours online. The telecoms industry, which accounts for 75 per cent of the total revenue earned by the media and communications industry only accounts for 1.3 hours.

The report seems to suggest that the days of the alarm clock are numbered – most people now use their mobile phones to rouse them in the morning.

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